Μύ Many of the ingredients that made "Misery" such a success are in place for "Dolores Claiborne". The same production company, a Stephen King story and most notably Kathy Bates. She of course won an Oscar for "Misery" but her performance in "Dolores Claiborne" is far stronger and more complex.
Bates plays a housekeeper who has lived with her difficult and elderly employer Judy Parfitt for 20 years. Her death in suspicious circumstances brings the vengeful investigator Christopher Plummer back on to the scene. He never managed to successfully prosecute Bates for what he suspects was the murder of her husband two decades earlier. This trouble forces the return of Bates' daughter Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is equally suspicious and full of anger and bitterness.
The shocking opening is a bold statement that appears to incriminate Bates beyond redemption in the eyes of the viewer. As she stands over the pleading body of Parfitt, ready to strike her head with a rolling pin it seems hard to imagine her as anything but evil. Yet director Taylor Hackford backs up this arresting start with a tale of ghosts of the past mixing with the living of the present by using highly effective transitions in time throughout the film.
Stunning photography by Gabriel Beristain, combined with the set design of Bruno Rubeo, conveys a nightmare setting that envelops the viewer in a destructive voyage of sadness and regret. Bates complements this perfectly with a moving performance of pathos and humility that dominates the screen. Jennifer Jason Leigh meanwhile has the thankless role of the bitter daughter, which she plays with equal despair in this highly absorbing movie.
